President's politics drive Bucks Democrats to polls

Thomas Friestad @ThomasFriestad

Tuesday

May 15, 2018 at 11:08 PMMay 15, 2018 at 11:08 PM

Many Bucks County voters took Tuesday's primary election as their chance to reject Republican officeholders. Several cited a disdain for President Donald Trump, even in deciding local and state elections.

"Can I interest you in a sample Republican ballot?" a volunteer asked a Lower Makefield woman as she arrived at her polling place Tuesday afternoon.

"No, thank you," she answered, a certain firmness in her voice.

The woman, who identified herself just as Karen, and several other voters said desire for a change drove them to the polls on Tuesday.

Pennsylvania's political climate might more closely resemble that of November 2017 — when Democrats took over all but one of the county's five row offices for the first time in over 50 years in the so-called "blue wave" — than of November 2016, when President Donald Trump eked out a statewide win despite a narrow loss in Bucks.

"This is the first step in taking back our country," he said. "I feel that the country's been hijacked. The 2016 election was not a legitimate election."

Beahm said he believes Trump "cares for the needs of the 1 percent, while the needs of everyone else are being neglected."

A Newtown Township Democrat who declined to give his name said protesting Trump and all Republicans aligned with him was the main reason he came out to vote in the midterm primary.

"I am so opposed to Trump, I just want to do anything I can that might help get him out of office," said the man after he cast his vote at the township's municipal building. "I don't think the Republican party as we used to know it exists anymore. ... It's the Trump party."

Removing the current administration from office also inspired Lexy Pathickal, a Penn State student, to visit Lower Makefield's township building and vote in what she said was her first election.

Since Trump's election, the county's Democrats have kept a lead in terms of newly registered voters while Republicans appear to have hemorrhaged numbers to the unaffiliated ranks, according to data from the Bucks County Board of Elections. Of the 11,617 Bucks voters who registered to vote since November 2016, 4,735 (40.8 percent) identified as Democrats, 3,660 (31.5 percent) did not identify with either party, and 3,222 (27.7 percent) identified as Republicans.

Of the county's 448,363 currently registered voters, 191,956 (42.8 percent) identify as Democrats, 183,196 (40.9 percent) identify as Republicans, and 73,211 (16.3 percent) do not identify with either party.

Linda Amos and Daniel O'Leary, judges of elections in Warrington and New Britain Borough, respectively, both said they saw roughly even splits between Democratic and Republican voters at their polling places as of Tuesday afternoon.

John Cordisco, chairman of the Bucks County Democratic Committee, said he believes the path to progress lies in "healthy debate and discussion" across party lines but that, for that to happen in the current political climate, "you probably need to change the person in the White House."

"At this point, I don't believe the president is going to change his behavior anytime soon, or his tactics," he said, describing Trump's behavior as "divisive and distracting because you get caught up in his delivery and never get the chance for appreciation or understanding of the substance (of issues)."

Cordisco said he believes health care, the environment and immigration are three paramount issues that, when combined with Trump's "personal approach to communication," have stimulated the Democratic party base.

Brandon Cwalina, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, said opposition to Trump but also support for Democratic policy goals, such as upholding health care through the Affordable Care Act, are contributing to passion and grassroots organizing among party voters — a trend he added he expects to continue through November's midterm election.

"I think you're seeing up and down the ballot people itching to vote for candidates who will fight for them rather than for special interests," Cwalina said.

A handful of Republican voters expressed doubt or ambivalence about reports of a "blue wave." Terri Drennan, a Newtown Township Republican, suspected such a phenomenon might just be media hype.

"I think so much of everything in the media is overblown," she said after voting. "With all the fake news, I don't listen to it anymore."

And Nick Liberato, an incumbent Republican committeeman running for re-election in Lower Makefield, said he believes about 30 percent of voters in both parties are entrenched in their views and will never move to the middle.

"Trump tries to bring people together but people haven't given him a chance," said Liberato, citing federal lawmakers' talks over immigration and saying he believes local voters want the president to "keep doing what he's doing."

And despite the optimism in some Democratic spheres, other voters held their breath, saying they would believe in higher blue turnout when they saw it.

“My hope is that there is a blue wave, but after having been burnt by the pollsters in the 2016 election, I am just keeping my fingers crossed," said David Crane, a Plumstead Democrat.

“There’s always a different wave within a year and a half to two years after the president’s been elected," said Kathleen Burns, a Warrington Democrat. "Right now, because I think we’re in a very critical stage with who we have in the White House, I hope we have a blue wave come along because I think (Trump) is not qualified to do the job — and I’m putting that nicely.”

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